The Red Pony

The Red Pony by John Steinbeck teaches life lessons to a boy, Jody, through things that happen in everyday life. Jody goes through hard struggles throughout the book, and overcomes his fears. He uses connections between his parents and other family members to look at different perspectives. John Steinbeck uses literacy devices such as imagery, personification and symbolism through the book.

Through his detailed and descriptive writing, John Steinbeck uses imagery to show you what is going on in the book. In the first part of this story, " the gift," the setting of the story is displayed using description. "The cowpumkpins were green and small yet. He went on to the sagebrush line where the cold spring ran out of its pipe and fell into a round wooden tub. He leaned over and drank close to the green mossy wood where the water tasted best ( Page 6.)" In sentences like these, John Steinbeck provides words that appeal to the senses. Instead of saying vague sentences, such as, He drank the best water, John Steinbeck provides background knowledge of the area without using filler words.

In the second story of this book, " The Great Mountains," John Steinbeck uses Personification, with the great mountains as the inanimate object. I perceived the great mountains as an idol and a goal for young Jody to reach. Throughout the book he asks many characters about them, and gets different answers. He asks his father, who has no interest in going there, and he asks the old man who comes to stay with them, who shares his experiences about going there. Jody is curious about what is on the other side of the objects, on the other side of life. His father explains to him how on the Great Mountains are " dangerous, with cliffs and things. Why I've read there's more unexplored country in the mountains of Monterey County than any other place in the United States (Page 39.)" The mountains portray a field of unanswered questions.

The final literacy device used in The Red Pony was Symbolism. John Steinbeck uses symbolism of loss and death throughout each of the stories within this book. They go through a pattern of cumulating all of the events together to create one. When the old mare dies, it was more than that to Jody. It symbolizes that it was his first horse. When the pony dies before it was born, this also symbolizes the trust Jody had in Billy Buck. Jody and Billy Buck had many discussions about Billy Buck was going to deliver this pony, and how Billy Buck was the best horse raiser in town. Once the pony died, so did Jody's trust in Billy Buck.

Although this book was short, It used a lot of literacy devices to explain in detail the meaning behind the story. Using imagery, personification, and symbolism, John Steinbeck successfully shares his message. He uses all the inanimate objects and characters in the story to represent a different meaning as well. The characters all rely on each other to help show the different messages.